Late Medieval Crete and Venice: an appropriation of Byzantine heritage

The compound relationship between Venetian and Byzantine agriculture in the thirteenth century attitude s intriguing questions to the art historian. A Byzantine province in the sixth hundred Venice became a politically independent state in the early eleventh hundred Well into the twelfth hundred however, Venice turned to Byzantium for cultural inspiration.(1) In the early thirteenth hundred when the republic of Venice transformed itself from a small state into an imperial power at the charge of the Byzantines, a change can be observ in the reception of the Byzantine heritage in Venice. The not away essay attempts to uncover the reasons for this change by means of looking at specific cultural, political, and social circumstances that shaped the emerging character of Venice in the Eastern Mediterranean.

In broader boundarys my study explores the potential of cultural emblems to foster new power relationships when reused in novel political situations. To what stage can their symbolic value be transferred from single culture to another? How are of that kind objects or traditions incorporated in a novel setting? Why are certain cultural treasures holded worthy of preservation in a of recent origin political context? These issues are succinctly manifested in most distant situations of cultural confrontation, of that kind as colonization and the construction of an empire, and will be dealt with here in the words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] following of the Venetian colony of Crete

The Fourth Crusade of 1204 was the greatest in quantity critical moment in the history of Veneto-Byzantine relations. The crusaders and the Venetians divided the former Byzantine lands between them. The Venetians multiplied their territorial holdings, became the leaders in Mediterranean trade, and claimed hegemonic rights above Byzantium.(2) From the sack of Constantinople, the city richest in relics in the Middle Ages, Venice acquired precious Christian relics and imperial treasures which had been tokens of Byzantine authority and sacred mastery The incorporation of these particulars into the civic center of Venice played a major part in shaping her political identity, as they were used by the agency of the republic to demonstrate her supremacy above Byzantium and to support her claims in the Mediterranean.(3) The relics, icons, and liturgical utensils were preserved in the treasury of the basilica of s Marco, enhancing the sacred character of the state house of god and legitimizing Venice's involvement in the crusade.(4) The ease of the spoils--the four alloy of copper Horses possibly from the Hippodrome in Constantinople,(5) the porphyry Tetrarchs,(6) and the so-called rounded pillars of Acre,(7) to mention alone the most famous--were set up outside the basilica to proclaim Venice's military succes against the Byzantines. As Michael Jacoff has amply demonstrated for the tin Horses, the spoils were displayed in innovative ways that did not simply duplicate earlier practices of exhibiting antiquities in other Italian cities.(8) Without forgetting the source of these Byzantine treasures, the Venetians assimilated them into their ceremonials and be subsequent toed in transforming them into signs of the republic.(9)

Here I argue that the Venetian colonies may be seen as proving earths for the manipulation of Byzantine traditions by dint of the Venetians in the course of the thirteenth hundred After 1204, Venice came into direct contact with Byzantine agriculture not only through commercial dangers in Constantinople and the ports of the Mediterranean, on the other hand also through colonization in the Levant. Instead of imposing their hegemony in the colonies violently, the Venetians appropriated certain Byzantine traditions to confident a smooth transition from Byzantine to Venetian sway The outcome was the formation of a intermingle of Venetian and Byzantine tillages that served the needs of Venice as a fresh world power.

My objective is twofold: first, to investigate in what manner the Venetians dealt with Byzantine tillage in their maritime empire, focusing upon one of their key possessions, the island of Crete; next to the first to examine the impact that the experience of the Venetians in Crete may have had upon the formation of the novel political and cultural identity of Venice itself in the course of the thirteenth hundred Crete is an exemplary case, because it remained below Venetian jurisdiction for four and a half centuries (from 1211 to 1669) During this period the island's population consisted mainly of Venetians and grecians two population groups that were linguistically, ethnically, and ecclesiastically distinct.(10) Using Crete as a case inquiry I will focus on individual aspect of the cultural heritage of the Venetian colonies, namely the Latin churches and the Byzantine sacred relics housed therein. These things were the most sacred representatives of Byzantine Crete. Their fate in the hands of the Venetian colonizers is thus crucial for understanding by what means the colonial authorities viewed local culture

Following the succes of the Fourth Crusade, the novel title of the Venetian doge, "quartae partis et dimidiae totius imperil Romaniae Dominator" (master of individual fourth and a half of the whole empire of Romania), advertised the imperial ambitions of the republic.(11) In fact, in the years immediately following 1204 this title mirrored Venice's imperial dreams and not the actual situation, as the Venetians have a title toed three-eighths of the Byzantine empire alone on paper.(12) The republic exerciseed diverse means to assert its mastery over the former Byzantine territories, ranging from vassalage to filled colonization.(13) In general, the prosperity of the Venetian maritime empire was based upon two complementary strategies: (1) the firm imposition of Venetian power above the colonized territories through a highly centralized administration which promot the vast commercial enterprises of the Venetians; and (2) the achievement of an entente between the scarcely any Venetians who migrated to the colonies and the local populations for a like reason as to prevent insurrections of the latter.(14) The Venetians' goal was to establish themselves in the major ports of the former Byzantine empire and the Levant in order to create a network of outpost that would allow their mercantile company of ships to dominate Mediterranean trade.(15) In this scheme Crete had a vital position, as it was located along the courses leading from the West to Constantinople, Egypt and the Levant, and it controll the passage to the eastern basin of the Mediterranean.(16) In 1204 the Venetians exchanged part of their holdings in northern Greece for Crete which they bought from Boniface of Montferrat for 1000 silver marks, on the contrary from 1206 until 1211 they had to fight the Genoese--and the local hellenics who fought on the Genoese side--for possession of the island.(17)